Technology: Software Defined Networks (SDN): Virtualization's Next Target is the Network

Virtualization has redefined the world of servers.  And now, a new technology called Software Defined Networks, or SDN, looks like it may redefine the world of networking.  SDN is sometimes referred to as ‘network virtualization’, and it could become the next very cost-efficient way that businesses manage their network traffic and data.

IDC predicts the worldwide SDN market to grow from $360 million in 2013 to $3.7 billion by 2016.

Rohit Mehra, vice president of network infrastructure at IDC, said that “SDN’s ability to decouple network logic and policies from the underlying network equipment allows for a more programmable network.  Providing better alignment with the underlying applications, this programmability allows for greater levels of flexibility, innovation, and control in the network. Logic and policies that can be defined, changed, and modified result in a more dynamic network, providing the scale network administrators so desperately crave.”

SDN abstracts network computing into two components: the control plane and the data plane.  The control plane makes decisions about where network traffic is sent and then forwards the  traffic to the selected destination, or data plane.

Sarah Sorenson, Senior Security Analyst at ACG Research, wrote on FierceTelecom of the advantages of SDN over standard networking hardware solutions.  She said that “by separating the control plane from the data plane, which essentially removes and then centralizes the ‘brains’ from the ‘muscle’ of the network, you can quickly make changes to improve the speed, reliability, efficiency and even security of that network. You control the network’s layout and flow, so you can define and distribute loads, optimize and prioritize traffic, and scale services or capacity up or down with just a few clicks, that is in theory.”

SDN technology has the potential to hit network vendors like Cisco and Juniper hard which were late in adopting SDN technology.  Rod Hall, analyst at JP Morgan, said that “we have become more convinced that SDN impacts are likely to come sooner and that those impacts will occur more rapidly when they begin.” Big-name networking vendors are rethinking their strategies.  Bob Muglia, executive vice president of the Software Solutions Division at Juniper, said that “It [SDN] will redefine networking and create new winners and losers.  We’re embracing SDN with clearly defined principles.”